I have now painted my first HQ figure!

[Jackyboy]

Hello

As some have read I painted my first ever miniature a while ago. It was a cheap EM4 miniatures Orc. It was nothing special but I was very pleased at how it came out. A friend guided me through the process and I thank him for his wisdom. So... I thought to myself that it was time to move onto better figures. I bought myself some clanrats and have now painted about 7 of them. I am really pleased with them, but got restless as I remembered just how much I wanted my HQ figures painted. So without further ado here is a photo of my first painted HQ figure and about my 10 figure I have ever painted

[cynthialee]

my only note for you as it is your first mini:
Trim those edges up with a razor or crafting knife of some form. That little bit of ragged detail takes allot away from an otherwise good to go mini.

[StratosVX]

my only note for you as it is your first mini:
Trim those edges up with a razor or crafting knife of some form. That little bit of ragged detail takes allot away from an otherwise good to go mini.

I agree. The paint job is really good though!

[Jackyboy]

Thanks for the info guys. I remember doing it for the first minis i painted. Then when it came to the clanrats I didn't need to do it. By the time I got to this guy I forgot to have a look and I was half way through the figure before I noticed. I will make sure that I do it for the remainder of orcs I am going to paint

[Goblin-King]

It's not to late to trim the base at least since it's just plain grey/black.
It'll be an easy fix and worth it too.

Otherwise good job

[Jackyboy]

yes I will do the base for sure. I haven't done the base yet...I am toying with the idea of painting them according to the colour that they represent (orcs and goblins - green, undead - white etc) or I may got for some dungeon type feel

[knightkrawler]

I am toying with the idea of painting them according to the colour that they represent (orcs and goblins - green, undead - white etc)

That's not a good idea. Mind you, the base will be of a color similar to the main color of the mini in most cases, but too bold and stark of a frame. Won't look good.
You don't want that orc you've painted there with a base in the skin's base green. Color coding like this only works when the code/base color is in stark contrast to the overall mini or just plain neutral (any gray, which has to be in a light/dark contrast to the mini, or black). Example: Skeletons might look good on a base of a red slightly darker than their eyes.
On the Orc you've painted there, to name another example, I see only black or a light gray working. Too many colors on the mini itself, the green and the red already setting the perfect color contrast.

Great job, by the way! Now get bolder with highlights and more focussed with shading.

[Jackyboy]

understood. I think I will go the grey dungeon type feel for the bases

Right yes sir! I will get more brave. Infact I have been painting again today and i have done another four orcs with blue this time. I base coated in dark blue, then ink with a dark purple. I left it to dry then I was going to drybrush a slightly lighter blue over the top...but then decided to try and use a detailed brush and add some highlights myself. I am quite pleased with the results.

Perhaps I should then use an even lighter blue after as a drybrush? or just do some extreme highlights with the lightest blue?

[knightkrawler]

The latter. You can try to go lighter in as many steps as you want to. The more mixing steps and layers you do - always leaving an edge of the layer underneath visible - and the smaller the color difference between two layers, the more blended the transitions look. If you have the basecoat blue and a lighter blue, start by mixing them 2:1, then 1:2, then 1:3 or 4, then pure lighter, then mix in a tiny bit of a white or offwhite and so on. You'll also be surprised how fast this gets at some point because the layers become smaller and smaller until you only touch a spot to put in the sharpest highlight/glint.
The dark purple ink was probably a good choice for shading. I use purples or violets mixed in to shade browns, reds, greens, blues, gold... It never looked bad.
As a shadow for many blues, it will even work pure.

Don't drybrush the Orcs. It's not that i am one of those pricks claiming You Should Never Drybrush If You Wanna Become A Good Painter. That's just plain bullshit.
But for skin and most cloths - smooth and plain surfaces in general - you shouldn't. The brush's tip is the only thing that matters. If it's fine enough you can layer the *lemony goodness* out of any surface, so do that. It's also the best way to learn how to choose colors, when to stop highlighting...

Here's the things that look good, and sometimes better, drybrushed:
Chainmail, dirty/gritty bone, rough fur, scales, bird feathers (in the middle steps with edge highlightings in the lightest or rim colors), stone/rock...
You get the idea.

[alyndavies]

that's really good painting, how on earth do you do the really small black details? the black between the red for the eyes etc.